Online Gambling in Washington State — A Comprehensive Guide

Top Washington Gambling Sites

• Wild Casino  – Best Gambling Site for Washingtonians
• Super Slots  – Best Washington Online Casino for Slots
• Bovada  – Best Sports Betting Site for WA
• Ignition Casino  – Best Poker Site for Washingtonians
• Cafe Casino  – Best Washington Online Casino for Table Games
• Las Atlantis Casino  – Best Bonus for WA Players
• BetOnline  – Best Live Dealer Site for Washingtonians
• BC.Game  – Best WA Crypto Site

Comparing the Top Gambling Sites in Washington

How We Choose the Best Gambling Sites for Washingtonians

We scoured through hundreds of gambling sites to ensure that only the worthy ones make it into our list. Our signature B.E.S.T. system is how we rank online gambling sites for residents of Washington.

You can read all about it on our how we rank page, but here is a quick summary of what B.E.S.T. means for us:

Bonuses

Entertainment

Safety

Transactions

• Bonuses — Bonuses are an important aspect of every gambling site we review. We look for sites with a variety of casino bonuses for both new and existing customers. We compare rollover requirements, match percentages, and even the number of free spins.
• Entertainment Features — Playing at an online gambling site should be fun. We grade sites on the ease of use of their interface, their simplicity of design, as well as the variety of games available.
• Safety and Security — The most heavily-weighted of our grading categories, safety and security requires us to take a close look at all the components that keep your personal and financial information private and secure. We look for a valid gambling license and a thorough Privacy Policy. We also look at the site’s data security, including its use of Transport Layer Security (TLS).
• Transactions — We look at the variety of deposit and withdrawal methods, as well as the time it takes to complete a withdrawal. Additionally, we confirm that the site uses banking-level encryption for all its financial transactions.

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Is Online Gambling in Washington Legal?

At first glance, Washington state seems to be quite a welcoming place as far as gambling is concerned.

The state’s estimated six million adults can visit one of the 30 tribal casinos in the state. Poker aficionados can find a game inside one of the state’s 50+ card rooms. The state itself runs a lottery, and brags that tickets can be purchased at “grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants and bars, and even some espresso stands.”

Yes, regardless of your game, Washington state appears to be the place for it. But is it, really? What about online gambling in Washington?

Well, the good news is that the state’s Gaming Commissioner in 2006, Rick Day, told reporters that arresting, prosecuting, and jailing small-time online gamblers is “not the focus of our work.” He said that instead, the state’s priorities were to go after national and international promoters or operators based in Washington state.

Why was Commissioner Day reassuring Washington gamblers? Because, at that time, the legislature had recently added some harsh language to state law(1):

“Whoever knowingly transmits or receives gambling information by telephone, telegraph, radio, semaphore, the internet, a telecommunications transmission system, or similar means, or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of gambling information shall be guilty of a class C felony subject to the penalty [of five years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both].”

But true to Day’s word, this crime has not been prosecuted in the nearly two decades since it became illegal. That’s right: There have been no recorded instances where anyone in Washington was arrested and prosecuted for gambling on the Internet.

Parenthetically, Washington does permit some mobile wagering—under specific circumstances and only at specific locations. Sportsbooks inside tribal casinos are allowed to provide patrons with a mobile app to place wagers—as long as that patron is physically present onsite in that casino. This only serves to add to the confusion of whether online gambling is permitted, regulated, prohibited, or ignored in Washington state.

One caveat about the 16 sportsbooks in Washington: they are all prohibited from taking wagers on collegiate sports/athletic events that are offered, sponsored, or played in connection with any public or private institution offering educational services that is located in Washington. In other words, as a Washington resident, you can’t wager on a Huskies-Ducks football game. Not in a sportsbook located in the state, anyway.

Parimutuel betting is permitted at the state’s one operating thoroughbred track, Emerald Downs. The track even runs betemerald.com—a local wi-fi-only betting app that allows Emerald Downs visitors to wager on races without visiting a betting window. Like the mobile wagering allowed at sportsbooks in Washington, you must be physically present at the track to use the app.

Offshore casinos are not subject to US state and federal laws. The residents of the various states are, however. So, the confusing gray area expands. Since we’re not lawyers here at GamblingSites.com, we recommend that if you have concerns about the legality of playing poker or live dealer baccarat online on a site licensed in Curaçao (for example), you seek legal advice from a licensed attorney in Washington state.

Land-Based Gambling Options in Washington

Tribal Casinos

Poker Rooms

Sportsbooks

Horse Racing

Bingo Halls

Washington Gambling Timeline

Future of Gambling in Washington

Like the historical pendulum swings of Washington gambling law from outright prohibition to total acceptance, the future of gambling in Washinton is unpredictable.

While tribal casinos are governed by compacts the state legislature has little control over, a bill that would legalize sportsbooks in commercial card rooms and racetracks has been stalled in committee since shortly after its introduction in 2021.

Worse, the state’s strict regulations and anti-online gambling law suggest that lawmakers aren’t keen on speeding up the process in the near future.

Gambling Responsibly in Washington

Like most states, Washington is concerned about its residents gambling responsibly. According to a 2003 needs assessment conducted by the state Department of Social and Health Services, more than 50% of all adults in Washington gambled in the previous 12 months.

With the national average of problem gamblers ranging between 2% and 4%, this leaves Washington’s state health apparatus needing to prepare for a potential of 60,000 to 120,000 problem gamblers.

Naturally, not all gamblers start out as problem gamblers, nor do all of them ever become problem gamblers. But if you or anyone you know is not gambling responsibly, it should come as a comfort that the state itself has developed several programs to combat it.

• State Problem Gambling Program
• Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling
• Washington State Gamblers Self-Exclusion
• Western Washington Gamblers Anonymous

Legal Sources

1. Chapter 9.46.240, Revised Code of Washington
2. Senate Bill 5212, Washington State Senate
3. Washington State Legislature, Washington State Constitution

Start Gambling Online in Washington

The legal landscape of online gambling in Washington is murky, but there are still offshore options available to residents within the state. For the best overall option, you can turn to Wild Casino, which packages a massive gaming library with some of the internet’s best casino bonuses to deliver an elite online gambling product.

There’s more than that within your reach if you live in Washington, depending on your preference. Gamblers looking for a high-level sportsbook can roll with Bovada, which is the best sports betting site available in the state. Super Slots grades out as the best casino Washington residents can access, Ignition Casino is the #1 option for online poker, and the list goes on.

Washington also has land-based gambling options ranging from poker rooms to horse racing tracks. If you want to gamble online, however, you can head to Wild Casino now or choose another viable site available to Washington residents.

J.W. Paine

J.W. Paine is one of the most experienced writers at GamblingSites.com. He’s written for television and the printed media, and is a published novelist (as Tom Elliott).

Paine loves writing about Las Vegas nearly as much he loves living here. An experienced gambler, he’s especially familiar with thoroughbred horseracing, poker, blackjack, and slots.

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